


Insights and Revelations

by antigrav_vector



Series: Bingo - Western AU [17]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 1872, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Secret Wars Battleworlds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Western, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Crossover, First Kiss, Get Together, M/M, Multiverse, Resolved Sexual Tension, Stony Bingo, Stony Bingo 2016, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 23:24:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8553772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: Tony's not all that unhappy to find out that Steve was misinformed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the "By the Power of ~*LOVE*~" prompt on my bingo card, and the final fill for the western AU miniseries. Betaed by the lovely [navaan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan). <3

Sitting up on his sofa took actual effort, but he did it. Catching Steve's eye, he nodded and pointed to the chair set opposite the sofa. "Sit down," he invited.

Steve hesitated for the barest instant before he accepted, but accept it he did. He seemed uncomfortable, and Tony wondered about that before he set it aside to begin his tale. "So Reed was up to his usual tricks, doing portal research no one thought could be done..."

When he let the statement trail off meaningfully, Steve snorted. "Well, he did it." He replied, tone desert dry.

"He did," Tony agreed, "and he dropped me into the Wild West. You got a glimpse of it. The place is called Timely."

"So what happened?"

Telling the story took a while. There was a lot to discuss. Steve took the story of how Senior nearly got himself burned alive as an opportunity to try to get Tony to face up to his own tendency to take risks. It didn't work. Tony growled curses under his breath.

When Steve paused for breath, he interjected. "You're just as bad, if not worse! Half the time I'm in trouble because I'm trying to keep your ass from getting shot!"

"I could say the same!" Steve retorted hotly, clearly emotionally invested enough to turn this into a knock down drag out fight if Tony let him.

Watching Steve draw a deep breath to start his rant anew, What Senior had said to him resounded through Tony's mind, for all that they were his own words. _Take care of each other._

Senior had definitely guessed Tony's feelings for his own Steve, but this...

Rather than let Steve launch into his new tirade, Tony stood and turned away, staring out the window.

Caught off guard, Steve let him. There was an awkward pause as they both reevaluated the situation. Well, Tony amended the thought, different situations, really. 

Turning away from the windows, Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "You know," he said, "I hope the two of them do well."

"Huh?"

"That other me and his Steve." Tony clarified, in the face of Steve's obvious confusion. "They're together."

Steve seemed to chew on that for a long few seconds, his jaw working as though he wanted to speak but couldn't find the right words. "And you're okay with that?" He asked eventually.

"You're not?" Tony shot back. "They're happy. For now at least. Until Fisk tries again. I wouldn't be surprised if that little political and ideological spat ended in someone's death. It already came damn close."

"No, no," Steve said, swallowing and looking down at his intertwined fingers, "I'm fine with it. I just..."

Now that was interesting. "You what?"

"I envy them," Steve replied, sounding wistful and like he longed to go spend some time with them, as Tony had. "Despite all the trouble they're facing, they have each other." He looked up from his hands. "You have Pepper."

Luckily that wasn't a sore spot any longer. Trying to sound casual and knowing he probably failed Tony shook his head. "Used to. She decided the stress was too much." 

That got him a sharp look. "When did that happen?"

"Couple of months ago. You were busy road tripping I think." It hadn't taken long after the the Chitauri Invasion for Pepper to come to her conclusions, and Tony suspected it didn't help that having missed that call from him still haunted her so much.

Steve nodded slowly, processing that information. "I haven't seen you with anyone else."

Tony made a face. "There _is_ no one else. Since Iron Man became such a big part of me, I've been trying this thing called responsibility."

"How's that working out for you?" Steve sounded almost hopeful, weirdly. "That sounds pretty lonely."

Giving his friend a wary look, Tony let himself fall back onto the sofa. "Responsibility isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"You're avoiding the question," Steve pointed out.

"I don't have an answer." Tony shrugged. "So far I've managed to cope, and I don't see why that would change, but part of being a futurist is knowing that everything could change at any moment."

Steve considered that for a beat. "And does being a futurist also mean you're open to offers as they come up?"

Floored, Tony stared at him for a long while, speechless.

Steve wasn't backing down, though. "Well?"

"Depends on the offer," he managed to say, knowing Steve would easily be able to hear his stunned surprise. The man knew him almost as well as JARVIS, despite the much shorter length of their acquaintance. "And who's making it."

Standing, Steve bent slightly at the waist and hauled him up off the sofa. They ended up nose-to-nose through no fault of Tony's and Steve didn't seem upset by that state of affairs. If anything, that was exactly what Steve had wanted.

Leaning in farther, Steve paused, offering.

Not about to turn that down, Tony pulled him in and kissed him soundly.


End file.
